Besler, Zusi Called Up, Espinoza Turns Down Call

Sporting Kansas City has a pair of players called up for national team duty in the upcoming international break, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi were both called into the US team that will finish out the fourth round of World Cup qualifying with games at St. Vincent and the Grenadines and home against Trinidad and Tobago. The US currently sit second in their group on seven points through the first four games having last split their two games against Guatemala with a win and a loss. The US can clinch advancement to the next round of qualifying with a win on Friday if Trinidad also beats Guatemala in Port of Spain. If those results occur it would make the USA's game in Jacksonville on Tuesday September 6th meaningless as both teams would be through to the "Hex".

One name not going to World Cup qualifiers that had been expected to was Roger Espinoza. Espinoza was originally on the list of players called up by Honduras for their World Cup qualifiers against Canada and Mexico. Reports stated that he had turn downed the call for personal problems and Sporting KC later confirmed that while Espinoza was called up he was not going to be going. Honduras are currently in second place in their group, tied with Canada on four points. The two teams face off Friday in Honduras, a location where Canada lost 8-1 to see their 2014 World Cup qualifying hopes end. Honduras will want to get a win, and pile on to advance because goal difference is the first tiebreaker. Currently Honduras sits on minus 1 with Canada on minus 4. With Honduras closing out on the road in Mexico and Canada hosting El Salvador, padding their goal difference heading into that file game will be important for Honduras, but they'll be doing it without Espinoza.

Espinoza Called Up By Honduras

Rosters for some national teams are starting to come out ahead of the international break at the beginning of September. Today, Honduras' governing body, FENAFUTH tweeted out the roster that head coach Jorge Luis Pinto has selected for their games on September 2nd and 6th against Canada and Mexico. Named to the roster is Kansas City midfielder, Roger Espinoza. After missing out on the Olympics, Espinoza will return to the national team fold and look to help Honduras advance to next year's Hex.

Currently Honduras sits in a tie for second place with Canada on four points. Honduras is ahead of Canada due to a better goal difference (-1 to -4). Honduras will host the first game against Canada on September 2nd before traveling to Mexico. The Canada game will be very big for Honduras, who will want to pull off a multi-goal win to pad their goal difference (the second tie breaker) because on the final match day Honduras travels to Mexico City to play group leaders, Mexico while Canada will host last place El Salvador.

In Kansas City terms, Sporting KC does not play a single game in the stretch, their last game before the international break is August 27th at Philadelphia, the end of the club's long stretch of games. Their first game back comes three days after the game on the 6th when Sporting hosts the Houston Dynamo on September 9th.

Honduras in Talks with Sporting to Bring Espinoza to Olympics

Reports out of Honduras are that Roger Espinoza is on the short list of candidates to be one of Honduras' three overage players for this summer's Olympics in Brazil. Honduras, who qualified for the tournament by taking second place at the Olympic qualifying tournament last year are in talks to bring two MLS players, Espinoza, along with Maynor Figueroa from FC Dallas and Romell Quioto of Olimpis as their three allowed overage players for the tournament.

If agreed upon, Espinoza would be going to his second Olympic games, having previously played in the 2012 Olympics in the United Kingdom. Espinoza at the time had used that tournament as the big show for him and is probably a big reason for why he was able to land an contract in England with Wigan Athletic after his contract expired after the 2012 season.

This year's tournament for the men runs from August 4th through the 20th in sites all around Brazil. During the tournament, Kansas City has just three league games (August 7 at Portland, August 13 at Dallas, August 20 vs Vancouver), but has a game five days before tournament at home against Portland on the 31st. KC will likely have other games during that stretch as the CONCACAF Champions League kicks off in August, and they could have a US Open Cup semifinal on August 10th if they were to advance that far. So the four league games plus at least one more in the CCL, so KC would likely be missing Espinoza for at least five games in that stretch.

I can't write about Espinoza's potentially going to the Olympics without sharing his final moment from the 2012 Olympics after his fantastic performance against Brazil, getting sent off and then getting a standing ovation from the neutral fans at Newcastle, a magnificent moment.

Espinoza and Mustivar Called Up for Qualifiers

After this weekend's game against Toronto FC, Sporting Kansas City is off until they play Real Salt Lake on April second, but not all of KC's players will be off from games. It was announced today that two of Sporting KC's players had been called up to represent their national team during the off week for KC. Roger Espinoza and Soni Mustivar were called up by Honduras and Haiti respectively as they both play World Cup qualifiers on March 25th and 29th.

Espinoza and Honduras are in trouble as they head into a pair of games against El Salvador, in a group that also includes Mexico and Canada, Honduras currently sits at the bottom of the group at 0-2 after losses on the road against Canada and at home against Mexico. If Honduras has hopes of qualifying for their third straight World Cup, they need to probably get at least four points from these two games. Honduras will travel to El Salvador first for their game on the 25th before hosting the return leg on the 29th at Estadio Olympic Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula. El Salvador, for their part, isn't doing much better, currently sitting in third place with a single point from a home draw with Canada. Only the top two will advance to the "Hex."

Mustivar and Haiti aren't doing any better than Honduras at this time though, as they too sit 0-2 in their group after a pair of 1-0 losses on the road against Costa Rica and at home against Jamaica. Haiti will be hosting Panama on the 25th before heading to Panama City for the return leg on the 29th. If Haiti has a hope of reaching the next round they need to probably get at least four points out of the game as well with their final two games being a trip to Jamaica and hosting Costa Rica.

The pair could be joined on national team duty by captain Matt Besler when the US releases their roster for their upcoming qualifiers against Guatemala.

Espinoza Called Up by Honduras

Sporting KC midfielder, Roger Espinzoa has been recalled to the Honduran national team ahead of their midweek friendly against Guatemala. Espinoza, who had been rumored to be joining the team ahead of their pair of games against Nicaragua and Guatemala was only called up for the later game, which takes place this Wednesday in Guatemala City. This is the first time that Espinoza has been called up to the national team since early last year. He was on the team's preliminary roster for this past summer's Gold Cup, but instead stayed with Sporting during that stretch. Espinoza will rejoin the club in Tucson, Arizona for the second phase of their preseason there and the Desert Diamond Cup.

Espinoza Returning to Honduran National Team

Since returning to Kansas City, Roger Espinoza has not been a figure with the Honduran national team. He was part of only one friendly in the first half of 2015, sat out the 2015 Gold Cup to be with Sporting KC, and missed the later half of the year because of his injury.

Now it appears that Espinoza will be returning to the Honduran national team. Reports out of Honduras are that Espinoza will be called up by head coach Jorge Luis Pinto for upcoming friendlies at the end of January and early February against Guatemala and Nicaragua. That means that Espinoza will join Matt Besler in missing a portion of preseason training with Sporting KC while with the Honduran team.

The friendlies are set up in preparation for World Cup qualifying to kick back off. Currently Honduras sits at the bottom of Group A with 0 points having lost their first two games to Mexico and Canada. Honduras will next play El Salvador in two games potentially with their hopes of making a third straight World Cup hanging in the balance.

Zusi and de Jong Called Up, Mustivar Turns Down Call

The 23 man rosters for next month's Gold Cup were released today with two Sporting KC players named to the roster. Marcel de Jong was named to Canada's roster while Graham Zusi was named to the USA's roster. Zusi will join the US team after this weekend's game against Colorado ahead of a friendly against Guatemala next week. De Jong's departure date has not been stated, so he could play in next week's US Open Cup game against Dallas before leaving. Meanwhile a third player has been named to his country's 23, but has apparently turned down the call up. According to the completed rosters, Sporting's Soni Mustivar was named to Haiti's roster but apparently turned down the call up and talks with the Haiti federation are currently on going. Of the three, Mustivar may be the biggest loss with the way that KC has played since he came into the starting lineup if he does in fact get called up for the tournament. Along with the Open Cup game, the players would also miss a trip to Vancouver on July 12th.

For those teams that advance past the group stage, games against Montreal on the 18th, Salt Lake on the 24th, and potentially a US Open Cup quarterfinal on July 21st or 22nd. KC's remaining players not called up, Matt Besler and Roger Espinoza could also be called in for the knock out round as all teams are allowed six replacements. Espinoza, like Mustivar turned down a call up for the Gold Cup, instead wanting to stay with KC and work on his fitness. Besler's absence may be the most surprising of all, and one has to wonder if he asked to not be called in for the group stage as well due to KC's lack of depth right now at the center back position. The KC captain though would be a prime candidate to be one of the six replacement players named after the group stage.

Espinoza Left Off Honduras' Group Stage Roster

Last week we heard that five Sporting KC players had been named to their club's Gold Cup provisional squad ahead of this summer's competition. Today Honduras cut their 35 man roster to 23 for the start of the tournament on July 7th. One name absent from the roster that will make Sporting KC fans happy is Roger Espinoza, he and many other Honduran internationals were left off Honduras' roster, at least for the group stages. This means he'll be available for the fifth round of the US Open Cup on June 30th or July 1st as well as when Sporting KC travel to Vancouver on July 12th.

Espinoza though could be recalled after the group stage is done as CONCACAF allows teams to make six changes to their rosters after the group stage, before the knock out round. So it's possible that Espinoza could still miss the team's games against Montreal on the 18th and in Salt Lake on the 24th, plus a potential US Open Cup quarterfinal in between.

Five KC Players on Gold Cup Preliminary Rosters

Today CONCACAF announced the preliminary squads for this summer's Gold Cup. The 35 man rosters for all 12 teams was announced today. The rosters will be knocked down to 23 for the actual tournament itself, although teams can make changes to their roster after the group stage.

For Sporting KC, they've had five players named to the provisional squads for four different countries in the Gold Cup. All of the five players were expected call ups, for the US national team, captain Matt Besler and Graham Zusi are on the list, neither was called into the national team for the games against the Netherlands and Germany. And while the US won both of the games, some of the defensive struggles could give a chance for Besler to win back the starting left center back post. As for Zusi, he probably has a much tougher task of winning back a spot on the team with the way the national team has played lately. And honestly up until the last couple games Zusi hasn't really looked like he should get a call up the way he's played since the World Cup last summer.

The other call ups involve Roger Espinoza being called back to the Honduran national team after having not been called in the last two times they've gotten together. Also there's Marcel de Jong who is on the Canadian roster after missing their most recent call ups for World Cup qualifiers as he returns from injury. The final call up is defensive midfielder Soni Mustivar for Haiti. Mustivar earns his first call up for Haiti as a member of KC.

If all players get called up to the final 23, four KC players will be playing at Sporting Park on July 13th with Honduras, Haiti, and the USA all in town.

The tournament kicks off on July 7th with the group stage and runs through July 26th. The US for example though has another friendly on July 3rd and would likely want players in camp a few days before that. What that means is that any Sporting KC players that make the final or third place game could miss as many as five games with Sporting. Should KC beat St. Louis in the US Open Cup, their fifth round match up would be on June 30th or July 1st followed by league games on July 12th at Vancouver, July 18th vs Montreal, and July 24th vs Real Salt Lake. The fifth game is dependent on US Open Cup advancement as the quarterfinals are July 21st or 22nd.

Certainly not a great situation, but they're not alone, two of their three opponents, Vancouver and Salt Lake have also had five players named to provisional rosters. The third opponent, Montreal only has one called up.

RVDV Deal Unlikely, de Jong Injured, Espinoza Sits, and More

Catching up on some news from the past day or so that I've brought up on Twitter, but I'll mention further here.

RVDV Deal Unlikely

Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl was present at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night for Sporting KC's game against New York City FC. Around half time, Wahl provided an update on the rumored move by KC to acquire Rafael van der Vaart, who has been told he won't be offered a new contract at Hamburg. For those that were excited about the potential signing, it looks like they're going to be disappointed. Wahl is reporting now that a deal for the Dutchman is looking unlikely and that Kansas City is going in a different direction.

Wahl reports that KC is still looking at additions for this summer, and has two players in mind, one of which is a South American.

De Jong Injured

Sporting has already lost Graham Zusi for this weekend (most likely) after picking up a hamstring injury in the win over NYCFC. They also could be without Jimmy Medranda, who also left the game with an injury. And now they have a third player who has picked up a knock. Tonight in Canada's 3-0 win in an international friendly against Puerto Rico, KC left back, Marcel de Jong started for Canada but only played 34 minutes before being subbed out. De Jong picked up an injury in the 33rd minute and tried to continue playing, but was quickly taken out and replaced by Karl Ouimette in the 34th.

Of all the positions that KC could suffer an injury, left back might be the easiest position for KC to recover from. With Seth Sinovic also available, KC should be fine should de Jong not be able to play this weekend. Still it'd be a blow for KC, while Sinovic may be a bit better defensively in KC's system, de Jong offers KC much more going forward with his crossing and also with the set pieces as he showed against Portland.

Espinoza Sits as Honduras Qualify

The Honduran national team filled out the final team in this summer's Gold Cup and will play the United States in each team's first game in Group A. After suffering an embarrassing 3-1 loss in the first leg in French Guiana, Honduras came out and scored three goals in the first half in the return leg in San Pedro Sula on Sunday with former DC United midfielder Andy Najar scoring two.

For Roger Espinoza though, he had no place in the team and was on the bench for the game after being subbed out in the 65th minute of the first leg in French Guiana. Still, Espinoza will likely have a role to play this summer for Honduras and could be missing more time for KC with Honduras qualified now.

Copa America Centenario Submitted

On behalf of @VisitKC, @SportKC, @KCChiefs, @SportingKC, & entire @KCMO metro, #CopaAmetica2016 bid submitted! pic.twitter.com/7kXr5I4IM1
— David Ficklin (@davidficklin) March 30, 2015

While KC was already on the short list to be a potential host for the 2016 Copa America Centenario which will feature teams from CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, today it became official. The above tweet from Dave Ficklin confirms that KC has officially submitted their bid to host games in next summer's tournament. A tournament that could bring some of the best players in the world like Lionel Messi and Argentina or Neymar and Brazil to Kansas City. Certainly something that would be quite exciting as a fan of soccer to watch.

Espinoza and Honduras Find Themselves in a Hole

The week of international matches for Sporting KC players did not get off to a good start. Roger Espinoza were in French Guiana to take on their national side in the Gold Cup playoff. The two teams are playing a home-home schedule for the final spot in this summer's Gold Cup.

Honduras got off to a good start as Jerry Bengston got a goal in the 18th minute to take a 1-0 lead. From there though things went down hill. A pair of goals in the 25th and 27th minute put French Guiana on top with Marvin Torvic finding the net off a corner kick and Sloan Privat finishing off a low cross. Privat finished off the scoring in the 62nd minute scoring his second on a long cross.

Sporting's Espinoza started the game for Honduras and played the first 65 minutes before making way for Andy Najar as Honduras tried to chase the game. Honduras will now need to over come a two goal deficit on Sunday at San Pedro Sula or else they'll miss out on qualification for the Gold Cup. The winner of the series will face off against the USA, Panama, and Haiti in Group A.

Here are the highlights from the game.

De Jong and Espinoza Called Up

Sporting Kansas City's first trip to Yankee Stadium will be with a bit of an undermanned roster. Today Canada and Honduras named their rosters for the upcoming FIFA International window and Kansas City had players from both countries named to the rosters.

Canada has called up KC left back, Marcel de Jong for their friendlies on March 27th against Guatemala and March 30th against Puerto Rico. The game against Guatemala will take place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while the Puerto Rico game will be played in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. De Jong would become the first Kansas City player to represent Canada while a member of Sporting KC and the third overall (Alex Bunbury and Pat Harrington the other two).

Honduras called up Roger Espinoza for their Gold Cup playoff against French Guiana. After finishing fifth in this past year's Copa Centroamericana, this is used as Central America's qualifying for the Gold Cup. Having finished fifth, Honduras has to play a home and away qualifier against French Guiana, who finished fifth in this past year's Caribbean Cup. The two sides will meet in French Guiana on March 25th with the return leg four days later in Honduras. The winner will advance to the Gold Cup where they will join the US, Panama, and Haiti in Group A. It's Espinoza's first call up to the national team since the World Cup last summer where he played in all three games for Honduras.

Both will miss Kansas City's game on March 28th in New York against NYCFC. There's also the potential for another few players to be called up and miss the game as well because both Haiti (Soni Mustivar) and the US (Matt Besler and less likely Graham Zusi) also have friendlies during the upcoming window.

Sporting Park to Host US vs Panama in the Gold Cup

CONCACAF today announced the groupings for this summer's Gold Cup, including the USA and their fourth trip to Sporting Park since the stadium opened. The United States, already grouped in Group A will play in Dallas, Foxborough and Kansas City for their three group games. Joining them will be Panama, Haiti, and Honduras or French Guiana (those two meet in a home and away playoff in late March to decide the final team in the tournament).

The United States will open the group in Dallas against the winner of the Honduras/French Guiana playoff on July 7th before taking on Haiti in Foxborough on the 10th. The Yanks will close out group play on July 13th at Sporting Park against Panama. Certainly not an easy group for the United States, especially if Honduras, as expected, takes care of French Guiana in the playoff matchup. You'll have Honduras who has qualified for the last two World Cups, Haiti, who while having not qualified for the World Cup since 1974, have given the US trouble in the past in the Gold Cup, including a 2-2 draw that the US had to salvage at the death in the 2009 version of the competition. Then you have Panama, the USA's opponent in KC, the team they beat in the 2013 version of the tournament in the final 1-0 (beating Mexico twice in that tournament), the team that was a late Graham Zusi goal from heading to the World Cup themselves, and the only team to beat the US in the group stages of the Gold Cup since the tournament was founded in 1991. So there really won't be any easy games for the US in this competition.

Group B will also see its share of tight games with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, and Canada making up the group. In Costa Rica you have arguably the best team in CONCACAF right now as the seeded team. You then add in regional rival El Salvador, 2014 Caribbean Cup winners, Jamaica, and co-hosts, Canada, who automatically qualified. While Costa Rica should win the group, playing Canada in Toronto in their final group game could be a strong test.

Of the three groups, Mexico in Group C got the easiest as they'll go up against Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and Cuba. While you have Guatemala and TnT both runner's up in their regional competitions, neither made The Hex in the last round of World Cup qualifying. Meanwhile Cuba qualified as the fourth place finisher out of the Caribbean.

The winner of the 2015 Gold Cup will meet the winner of the 2013 Gold Cup (the USA) in a home and home series for the right to go to the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. If the US wins the Gold Cup this year, the US will automatically advance to the Confederations Cup.

Claros Called Up by Honduras

Sporting KC midfielder, Jorge Claros has been called up by the Honduran national team for a pair of upcoming friendlies against Venezuela. The two teams will play once in Honduas on February 4th and again in Venezuela on February 11th.

With the call up, Claros will join Sporting captain, Matt Besler and goalkeeper, Jon Kempin in missing Kansas City's second preseason game on February 9th against FC Tucson.

Claros will return to Sporting after the second game and should be available for the team's third preseason friendly on the 18th against Colorado.

Sporting Roster to be Tested again with Call Ups and More Injuries

Sporting KC is going to have more selection issues as the team goes into the final four games of the regular season. Today the team made two announcements about player availability in the final month.

First the team announced that midfielder Jorge Claros had been called up by Honduras for the country's two national team games next week against Mexico (October 9th) and the United States (October 14th). Claros will now miss Sporting's game against the Chicago Fire on October 10th at Sporting Park.

KC also announced today that defender, Erik Palmer-Brown's season is over. The 17 year old home grown player suffered a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot and is done for the year. Palmer-Brown suffered the injury in training today at the team's Swope Park training complex.

While Palmer-Brown hadn't gotten a ton of game time this year, it leaves KC with just six defenders on the roster, one of whom is also the team's current starting defensive midfielder. Another injury or suspension and KC gets into emergency defensive position again. The team currently has just three outside backs with Seth Sinovic, Igor Juliao, and Kevin Ellis. With Jacob Peterson still out injured, the fourth outside back would probably be Sal Zizzo who has played there with Portland. In the center of defense KC just has four available defenders, starters Matt Besler and Aurelien Collin, starting defensive midfielder, Lawrence Olum, and then Ellis.

What this means is that some of the team's most tired legs are going to be getting basically all the minutes the rest of the season. Besler and Sinovic have both looked tired in games having played so much already this season. Collin is battling another injury, and Juliao has had some adjusting to do defensively with this team. With Olum getting the majority of his minutes in midfield, the Ellis is going to be the jack of all trades defensively for KC down the stretch. It does lead to the question that many fans have asked since both Ike Opara and Chance Myers went down with season ending injuries, why didn't KC look to bring in another defender to help provide some depth on the back line. Hopefully the team can hold up down the stretch, but the lack of ability to rotate some of the starters a little bit is going to hurt KC in the end.

Quiet International Date for Sporting KC

It looks like it is going to be a quiet week for Sporting KC players who represent their national team.

USA

Today the US roster came out for their friendly against Russia on Wednesday in the last international date of the year.  Jurgen Klinsmann's roster does not include any Sporting KC players.  Klinsmann has gone with quite a few young players on the roster along with some mainstays.  There's no room on the roster this time around for Graham Zusi though as the likes of Mix Diskerud, Josh Gatt, and Joe Gyau getting looks by Klinsmann.  I wouldn't take the lack of call up as anything of major importance for Zusi, Klinsmann knows what he can do and come February when the Hex kicks off I expect that Zusi will be on that roster.

The other Sporting player that many people thought would get a look in this camp is defender Matt Besler.  With some of the USA's problems at center back in the last set of qualifying, people thought that Besler, a candidate for defender of the year, would be a perfect candidate for this game after KC's early playoff exit.  Instead, Klinsmann has gone with the same group of center backs that he used for the last qualifying cycle.  The center back position for the friendly against Russia will feature two of four of Carlos Bocanegra, Geoff Cameron, Clarence Goodson, and Maurice Edu.  Two of those guys (Cameron and Edu) are not playing center back for their clubs (Cameron right back, Edu bench warmer), while Bocanegra is currently in the second division, and Goodson's club looks set to be relegated to the second division.  I understand that Besler, like Zusi, has had a long club season and the game is on the other side of the world, but the US really needs to start looking for new blood at center back.

As a whole there were only 3 MLS players called in for the friendly, two goalkeepers, Sean Johnson and Nick Rimando, and Juan Agudelo at forward.  A fourth player, Herculez Gomez plays in Mexico, the rest of the roster is from Europe, a much shorter trip, probably the main reason for the lack of Besler, Zusi, and other MLS players.

Honduras

Honduras is set to play Peru in an international friendly on Wednesday down at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.  Honduras will be doing so without Roger Espinoza, who has been left off the roster for the game.  Like Zusi and Besler, Espinoza has just come off a long season, arguably longer with his trip to London for the Olympic games.  Espinoza, probably more than anyone on KC's roster has earned this break and not getting a call up.

Haiti

Starting on Wednesday, Haiti will continue their campaign to qualify for the 2012 Caribbean Championships in Antigua and Barbuda.  Haiti is grouped with hosts Grenada, Guyana, and French Guiana in a 4 team tournament that starts Wednesday and concludes Sunday.  Haiti will play Guyana on Wednesday, French Guiana on Friday, and Grenada on Sunday.  The top two teams will qualify for the tournament in Antigua.  The top 4 teams there will qualify for the 2013 Gold Cup in the United States.

I've been unable to find an official roster for the team for this round of the tournament, but I'd expect Peterson Joseph to be playing a role for Haiti when they take the field.  He started all 3 of Haiti's games in the last group stage back in September, so expecting the same shouldn't be surprising.

EDIT: The team has officially announced that Joseph will be representing Haiti.

Espinoza Out 2-4 Weeks

A big blow today for Sporting KC in their run in towards the end of the season, but an even bigger blow to Honduras, Sporting KC midfielder Roger Espinoza is set to miss the next two to four weeks recovering from a right ankle sprain suffered in stoppage time of KC's 1-1 draw with Columbus yesterday.  Going towards goal shortly after Columbus equalized, Espinoza went down going towards a ball with goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum and a Crew defender.  Espinoza stayed down and had to be subbed out.  From what we've seen of Espinoza I'd expect him back on the short side of that range, but it also wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't play the final two regular season games so he's fresh for the playoffs.  The injury likely brings a close, at least for the time being, to Graham Zusi playing the wing forward position.  I'd expect Zusi to slot back into the midfield in front of Julio Cesar and Paulo Nagamura, and Jacob Peterson or Bobby Convey coming into the starting 11 to play the forward role.  If Peter Vermes didn't want to mess with his front 3, he could always look to insert Peterson Joseph or Oriol Rosell into the midfield position, or even have Convey play in that midfield position, which he's done a little bit this season.

The injury is a bigger loss for his national team, Honduras, who have 2 very big World Cup qualifiers coming up during the upcoming international break.  Honduras plays in Panama on Friday before hosting Canada on Tuesday the 16th.  The Canada match is going to be the bigger one most likely as those Honduras seems set to fight Canada for the second spot from their group that gets into the Hex next year.  Losing a player of Espinoza's caliber is going to be a big blow to Honduras.  In US terms though, I'd rather the US play in Canada than have to go down and play a game in Honduras. 

Espinoza and Kamara Called Up

We're closing in on the next international break, coming up in the middle of October and headlined for KC fans by the US World Cup qualifier against Guatemala at Livestrong Sporting Park.  And while that sold out game will be absolutely huge when it comes to the USA's qualifying for the hex, some Sporting players will be busy during that stretch as well. 

The US hasn't released their roster yet, but one would expect Graham Zusi to be included in the US squad.  Two other Sporting players have been called up though.  Roger Espinoza will compete for Honduras in two extremely important qualifiers in their hopes of making the hex.  Espinoza is one of 6 MLS players included on Honduras' roster that will play in Panama on the 12th and host Canada on the 16th.  Honduras is currently in second place in Group C on 7 points, tied with Canada but ahead on goal difference.  While Honduras is in Panama Canada will be hosting Canada.  While that match is important for Honduras, the game on the 16th is going to be huge.  That game on the 16th against Canada at Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula will likely be a win and you're in game. Unless Canada absolutely blows out Cuba or Panama crushes Honduras goal difference is likely going to be the deciding factor on who goes through to the Hex and who stays home.  Espinoza figures to play a vital role for Honduras in both those games.

Speaking of win and you're in games.  That's exactly the situation that Kei Kamara and Sierra Leone face in their African Cup of Nations qualifier against Tunisia. This is the second leg of their home-home series to qualify for the Cup of Nations in South Africa in January 2013.  Kamara and Sierra Leone played to a 2-2 draw against Tunisia in Freetown in September, a disappointing result as the Leone Stars twice led the game, including in the 87th minute before giving up the equalizer a minute later.  The result in Sierra Leone means that the Leone Stars are in a virtual must win in Tunisia on October 13th.  Sierra Leone will either need to win on the road, or hope for a high scoring draw (3-3 or greater) to go through automatically.  A 2-2 draw would see extra time and potentially PKs.  I would absolutely love to see Kamara get the chance to represent his country at the ACN in January.

Good Night for Sporting KC Internationals

It turned out to be a huge night for Sporting KC's international players as all 3 got huge results to help them in their own qualifying efforts. 

First, Graham Zusi got his first start in a competitive game for the US national team as they faced a virtual must win at home against Jamaica.  After the loss in Jamaica and Guatemala beating Antigua earlier tonight, the US faced the prospect of falling out of a spot in the Hex with only 2 games left.  Zusi though took full advantage of his starting opportunity having a fantastic game and earning himself high praise around the US Soccer community.  In the 6th minute Zusi cut outside around the corner of the box and fired a shot on goal that hit the cross bar.  Zusi had two other opportunities in the first half, the first after a blocked shot by Fabian Johnson that Zusi got to on the back post by Dwayne Miller got his foot to the shot knocking it away.  Also off a corner that was headed back to him by Carlos Bocanegra, Zusi hit the volley just over the bar.  Even without the efforts, Zusi had a great game, combining extremely well with Steve Cherundolo, the two caused Jamaica a number of problems down the USA's right side the entire game. 

It took until the second half for the US to find the winner and it came off a fantastic free kick from former Wizard, Herculez Gomez.  Miller in the Jamaican net should have done better, but you can't take away from the strike from Gomez.  The US now have 2 games left to clinch advancement to the Hex and would certainly appear to be in the driver's seat.

In other World Cup qualifying action, Roger Espinoza and Honduras took on Cuba in San Pedro Sula in Honduras.  Honduras got their qualification hopes back on track with a 1-0 win and moved into second in the group ahead of Canada on goal difference.  Espinoza set up the goal by Jerry Bengtson after some great work on the end line before sending a looping ball to the back post where Bengston headed the ball into the empty net.  The goal was all Honduras needed.  Honduras finish qualifying in Panama on the 12th before finishing qualifying at home vs Canada which could be the game that decides which of those two teams advances to the Hex next year.

The final Sporting international playing tonight was Peterson Joseph who finished their first qualification phase for the Caribbean Championships and Gold Cup qualification.  The Haitians topped Puerto Rico 2-1 to finish atop Group 1.  With the win, Haiti move into Group 6, which will be hosted October 18th through the 25th in Grenada.  Haiti and Grenada will be joined by the winner of Group 2 and the second place team from either group 4 or 5.

Joseph Only Sporting International to Play Friday

Three of Sporting Kansas City's four players on international duty had games scheduled last night, but only one of those 3 saw the field.  Roger Espinoza's Honduras teammates were in Cuba for a mid-day kick off in their World Cup qualifier.  Espinoza had to sit out the game due to his red card against Brazil in the Olympics.  Honduras didn't need him though, after a shaky start, the Hondurans settled down and defeated Cuba 3-0 in a game that Honduras had to win to truly keep their qualification hopes alive thanks to goals by 3 other MLS players, Jerry Bengston, Victor Bernardez, and Marvin Chavez.  A loss would have left Honduras on 1 point, 5 points behind second place Panama with 3 games left.  At the half way point of this round, Honduras is currently 3rd in the group with 4 points.  Tuesday they host Cuba in the return leg while Panama host Canada.  A win there could move Honduras into second place in the group depending on the other result.  Espinoza will be available for that game after serving his suspension.

Graham Zusi was on the bench, but was an unused sub for the United States as they fell to Jamaica for the first time in history last night in Kingston.  The US got off to a great start when Clint Dempsey scored 35 seconds into the game, but it was all down hill from there.  Silly fouls just outside the box allowed Jamaica to score twice off of free kicks to win the game 2-1.  The loss puts a lot of pressure on the US in the return leg in Columbus on Tuesday.  Thanks to Guatemala's 3-1 win over Antigua, they are now tied for second place in the group with the United States.  The US definitely missed Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan last night, and the whole team will need to step up come Tuesday.  The "good news" (if there is any) for fans in Kansas City is that the loss certainly makes the game in October at Livestrong Sporting Park look much bigger than it was heading into this series of qualifiers.

Peterson Joseph was the only Sporting player to see the field as he and Haiti took on Saint Martin in their first game of qualification for the Caribbean Championships later this year.  Haiti is the host for their group that also includes Bermuda and Puerto Rico.  Joseph started, and recorded an assist as Haiti got off to a flying start, winning 7-0 over the French overseas collectivity.  Sunday, Haiti return to action against Bermuda and can clinch a spot in the next round with a win over Bermuda and Puerto Rico not losing to Saint Martin.  Haiti finish this group stage against Puerto Rico on Tuesday.  Should they advance, Haiti will play in a group with either Grenada or Guadeloupe, depending on whether they finish first or second.

Today, Kei Kamara and Sierra Leone take on Tunisia in the first leg of a home-home series in an attempt to qualify for the African Cup of Nations in January.